Erik Chalhoub here, following the latest progress of the Pajaro River levee project closely.
Since the 2023 flood that devastated the town of Pajaro, we’ve spoken with affected residents, covered the threats from the federal government thwarted by local officials and witnessed the ongoing recovery of this small agricultural community.
So in looking for new ways to advance the story of Pajaro’s rise from the flood, we found inspiration from an unlikely place: in a lab at CSU Monterey Bay.
Earlier this year, Weekly Editor Sara Rubin toured the lab of Liz Alter, an associate professor of biology at CSUMB. Here, students were in the midst of various projects, including studying water samples from the Pajaro River.
I looked into the study, and the more I learned, the more I realized there was more to this story that wouldn’t fit in a traditional news article. It evolved into this week’s cover story in the Weekly.
The CSUMB students are actually one part of a larger research project headed up by UC Santa Cruz Earth and Planetary Sciences Professor Andrew Fisher, funded through a $1.9 million grant awarded by the University of California in 2023.
The team, which extends across other universities and government agencies, is examining what the possible impacts the levee project could have on the wildlife that live in and around the river, and how the project can be designed in a way that improves not just flood protection, but the overall habitat.
Much of what the researchers found confirmed what they already knew about the river, but there were also plenty of surprises along the way. The results of their study will be published later this year.
For now, you can read about the process in the cover story, and get a glimpse of where construction stands on the levee project.